Early Childhood Education in Nicaragua, Before and After the 80s

Abstract

In Nicaragua before the eighties, early childhood education centers were private and there were no specialists in the area. These centers functioned in private houses under the directions of an educator with vocation, love and interest to teach. Children in these centers came from families which could afford the tuition. After the triumph of the Sandinista Popular Revolution (RPS), the Ministry of Education (Managua-Nicaragua) created the Department of Preschool Education. The government allocated economic resources to professionalize teachers, and build centers for preschoolers, both in urban and rural areas. This project has strengthened and raised awareness among individuals allowing the integration of different social actors such as families, local communities, institutions in charge of education. Throughout this time, the fundamental interest of the different actors has been to stimulate the integral development of children to prepare individual for life.